Rich runs a home improvement business. He is happy with the level of business he receives, but he wants to learn more about his customers, so he studies information compiled by the U. S. census bureau and other government agencies, databases created by marketing research firms, and sales and other internal reports. What kind of data is Rich using in this scenario?

Case in point 1.2 suppose you work in the it department of global hotels, a multinational hotel chain. global hotels runs several specialized business support systems, including a guest reservations system that was developed in-house to meet the requirements of a large company with worldwide operations. guests can make one-stop online reservations by visiting global's website, which has links to all major travel industry sites. global hotels just acquired momma's, a regional chain of 20 motels in western canada. momma's uses a vertical reservations package suitable for small- to medium-sized businesses and a generic accounting and finance package. should momma's use global hotels' information systems or continue with its own? in your answer, consider issues such as business profiles, business processes, system interactivity, edi, ecommerce, and the characteristics of both information systems. what additional information would be to you in making a recommendation?

Recently, verizon wireless ran a pricing trial in order to estimate the elasticity of demand for its services. the manager selected three states that were representative of its entire service area and increased prices by 5 percent to customers in those areas. one week later, the number of customers enrolled in verizon's cellular plans declined 4 percent in those states, while enrollments in states where prices were not increased remained flat. the manager used this information to estimate the own-price elasticity of demand and, based on her findings, immediately increased prices in all market areas by 5 percent in an attempt to boost the company's 2016 annual revenues. one year later, the manager was perplexed because verizon's 2016 annual revenues were 10 percent lower than those in 2015"the price increase apparently led to a reduction in the company's revenues. did the manager make an error? yes - the one-week measures show demand is inelastic, so a price increase will decrease revenues. yes - the one-week measures show demand is elastic, so a price increase will reduce revenues. yes - cell phone elasticity is likely much larger in the long-run than the short-run. no - the cell phone market must have changed between 2011 and 2012 for this price increase to lower revenues.

Dyed-denim corporation is seeking to lower the costs of value creation and achieve a low-cost position. as a result, it plans to move its manufacturing plant from the u. s. to thailand, which based on company research, is the optimal location for production. this strategic move will most likely allow the company to realize